Adjectives

What are they? Words that describe other words, generally nouns.
 * ADJECTIVES**


 * Common problems and solutions from Anderson's //Mechanically Inclined (2005).//**

Adjective Strings (Anderson, 132) “When students rely only on adjectives to add detail to their sentences rather than on specific nouns and vivid verbs, they often create adjective strings—groups of three or more adjectives.

Activity: The Human Sentence—Adjectives Out of Order Make a sentence with three adjectives in a row, such as The mangy, filthy, stray mutt approached me. Take large sheets of construction paper and write each one word on a pieces of paper. Also put a period, two commas, and the word “and” on separate pieces of paper. I tell the person with the and sheet to keep his or her seat until later. Ask thirteen students (all except “and”) to come up front and make themselves into a living, breathing sentence using the words and punctuation they have. After they have organized themselves accordingly, ask if there is another way to write the sentence. Ask them to think about how they can use commas and the word “and” and then read them a mentor text. Once you have read the text, have them reorganize themselves.

Adjective Clauses (Anderson, 135) An adjective clause works like a multiword adjective. It describes whatever is to the left of it, usually a noun. Adjective clauses are usually introduced by relative pronouns such as who, whose, whom, which, that, and where.

Activity: Which One? An Adjective Clause Tells All Remove the adjective clauses from selected mentor texts and then type them on an overhead transparency. As you look at the sentences with the students, tell them that you have removed a part of each sentence. Explain that you have done so in order to get the students to see their effects more easily. Have the students read these sentences again with the clauses put back in. Talk to them about the differences and how they affect the sentence that they are in.

Visual Scaffold Adjectives Versus Appositives: In order to move past the simple term interrupter, you must clarify the differences between an adjective clause and an appositive. Tell Which One ||  Appositives Rename the Noun ||
 * Adjective Clauses
 * Influenza is a disease **which looms on often-touched surfaces**, waiting to infect its victim. || Influenza, **a silent killer**, looms on often-touched surfaces, waiting to infect its next victim. ||

Resources: [|http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy2.htm#adj]

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References:

Anderson, Jeff. //Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into Writer's Workshop//. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, 2005. Print.